Windblowne Reviewed By Amy Lignor of Bookpleasures.com

Amy Lignor

Reviewer Amy Lignor: Amy is the
author of a historical fiction novelÂ entitledÂ The Heart
of a Legend, andÂ Mind Made,Â aÂ work of
science fiction. Presently, she is writing an adventure series set in the New York Public Library, as well as a teen fiction series, The Angel Chronicles.Â She is an avid traveler and has
been fortunate to have journeyed across the USA, where she has met the most
amazing people, who truly bring life and soul to her books.Â She
lives in the Land of Enchantment (for now) with her gorgeous
daughter, Shelby, her wonderfulÂ Mom, Mary, and the greatest
friend and criticÂ in the entire world - her dog, Reuben

Young adult and middle-grade fiction
have been taking over the publishing industry and I, for one, am
extremely happy about this fact. I am also happy when the books
being produced aren't about vampires. Even though the
"pasty-faces" have opened the door for the wondrous books
that are coming to library shelves, it is always fun (and a relief)
to receive one in the mail that is not only a beautiful story, but
that doesn't involve the biting of necks or sad-eyed Romeo and
Juliet-'esque' storyline.

In this fantastic book, we meet
Oliver. Oliver lives in a magical community called Windblowne,
where the villagers live high up in the large oaks, in treehouses
that are connected by rope bridges. Far below is Windswept Way,
which is the only street in town, that runs around the mountain like
a corkscrew. The town will make all readers want to run out and
live there, as the author introduces us to the Windblowne Watch.
These are the men who are retired flyers, who now spend their time
lighting the oil lamps in town and managing the crowds of tourists
that come to Windblowne once a year for the Festival of Kites.
The Tournament of Champions is in its 455th year, and the whole town
is getting geared up for the many visitors who are on their way to
watch this incredible event.

Oliver gets teased a great deal in
the town of Windblowne. His family is regarded as lunatics by
his neighbors. His mother is a sculptress who makes metal works
of art that the Mayor of the town screams at her to take down, and
his father spends ALL of his time sitting in his study at his desk,
pen in hand, scribing huge, long, boring books that Oliver just can't
understand. His parents barely know he exists, so Oliver spends
most of his time dreaming of a way he can build a kite that will be
the envy of all the others in town, and learn how to jump off the
mountain and fly across the earth to break the record that was set
for the longest jump made years before. Unfortunately, for
Oliver, no matter how hard he tries, he just doesn't seem to possess
the gift of flight, and has destroyed more than a few beautiful
flying creations in his short lifetime.

One evening, his father absentmindedly
mentions Oliver's great-uncle Gilbert, who was once the master
kite smith in town, who stormed away forty years ago because he was
an imaginative genius who got mad at the small-minded town.
Oliver is extremely excited. THIS is the moment he's been
waiting for to change his life. A master kite smith in the
family would be able to teach him how to design and fly the perfect
product and put all his laughing, teasing friends to shame. He
soon finds himself walking along the magical path through the bushes
and comes upon Gilbert's treehouse hidden away from all prying eyes.
Inside the falling-down structure, Oliver can see the most beautiful
kites in the universe hanging from the ceiling...and a boring, plain
crimson kite sitting on the workshop table. In addition, Oliver
also finds out that in another world - very close to Windblowne -
lives an evil twin of great-uncle Gilbert's who likes to call himself
Lord, and has been killing the mighty oaks in order to make his
latest technological flying devices. Even worse, Oliver is
captured by this evil Lord and finds out that his uncle has been
banished to a horrible world where Oliver must go and rescue him, in
order to save the mighty oaks and his beloved town.
Soon Oliver finds out that kite flying may not be the special
gift that was handed down to him; that, perhaps, his bravery in
the face of danger is far more important.

Every paragraph of this story is
absolutely beautifully written. The windswept world that Oliver
lives in is almost like another Neverland, where families are drawn
together, adventure is around every secret passageway, and the sky is
filled with the colorful silks and bright "tails" of
kites blowing in the wind. This is top-notch middle-grade
fiction! Enjoy it!